The timeline for granting state casino licenses has been pushed back, for both Metro Boston and Southeastern Massachusetts.

The state Gaming Commission took actions Thursday that will likely postpone the award of a casino license in Greater Boston till at least August and delay a license for Southeastern Massachusetts even longer, to February or later.

The commission decided to delay the second-phase application deadline for commercial casino proposals in Southeastern Massachusetts to at least Sept. 23.

Chairman Stephen Crosby said the commission will likely set the exact deadline at its next meeting, when it is also expected to decide whether to waive the $500 million minimum investment requirement in an effort to encourage more applications. That move would push the license award date in next year.

“It would send a signal to them that we’re not forcing them to submit an application that isn’t as fully developed as they would like it to be,” Gaming Commission Ombudsman John Ziemba said.

The commission received letters from KG Urban and the city of New Bedford requesting an extension. Fall River, which hopes to strike a deal with Foxwoods for a commercial casino, opposed the extension.

“I think we’re stuck with extending it some because we’d get no proposals with the current deadline,” Crosby said.

The commission previously targeted July as the second-phase application deadline and November as the licensure date.

Uncertainty over the Mashpee Wampanoag effort to build a tribal casino in Taunton is a factor in the Southeastern Mass. market, he added.

The Gaming Commission voted to hold a meeting May 1 to gather input on Boston’s request to be considered a host community for the Revere and Everett casino proposals. The question, Gaming Commission attorney Todd Grossman said, centers around how to define the “premises of a gaming establishment.”

The commission had planned to award a casino license by June to either Wynn Resorts’ Everett proposal or Mohegan Sun’s casino at Suffolk Downs, but that action is now expected to be delayed until August, while the commissioners hear Boston’s concerns.

Crosby said he’s concerned about the timeline, but thinks the commission is making the right move.

“We would have been making a decision next month if it wasn’t for this process,” Crosby said. “We’re bending over backwards so the city can make its case, and it’s compromising a lot of other parties.”

The Suffolk Downs proposal initially included property in both Revere and Boston, but was redesigned to fit entirely within Revere after Boston voters rejected the notion of hosting a casino.

Page 2 of 2 - In Southeastern Massachusetts, the commission had set July as the targeted date for second-phase commercial applications. KG Urban, which hopes to build in New Bedford, and Foxwoods, which is working to build in Fall River, are among those pursuing a commercial casino in the region. Claremont Co. of Bridgewater has also expressed interest but has yet to submit a formal proposal.

Applicants that have passed background reviews in other regions but failed to win a license will be allowed to apply in Southeastern Massachusetts ahead of the second-phase application deadline.

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which hopes to build a tribal casino in Taunton, was initially given a window of exclusivity in Region C (Southeastern Massachusetts). But due to questions about the tribe’s ability to qualify for the federal land designation needed to establish a reservation and build a tribal casino, the commission decided last year to open the region to commercial applicants.

The commission is expected to gauge the progress of the tribe’s federal land application before making a decision on a commercial license. A gambling compact between the tribe and the commonwealth calls for the tribe to pay 17 percent of its casino revenue to the state but specifies that the tribe would pay the state nothing if a commercial casino is licensed in Region C.

Commercial casinos will pay the state 25 percent of their revenue.

“No one knows what to do in a market that’s congested and has the possibility of a no-tax tribe,” Crosby said.

Gerry Tuoti is the regional newsbank editor for GateHouse Media New England. Email him at gtuoti@tauntongazette.com or call 508-967-3137.